Wild elephant, calf electrocuted in Okkampitiya

By Keshara Gunathilake

Colombo, June 14 (Daily Mirror) - A wild elephant and a calf have died after getting entangled in an electric wire set up illegally at a farmland in the Jothi Amuna area of Maligawila, Okkampitiya.

The two wild elephants died on the spot after coming into contact with an electric wire that had been set up to protect a large-scale plantation of sugarcane, papaya, banana and paddy from wild animals.

The dead animals are a 20-year-old elephant standing about six feet tall and a one-year-old calf about four feet tall.

An individual who was guarding the land has been arrested by wildlife officers, while the owner of the land where the electric wire was drawn has fled the area and is currently in hiding.

Wildlife officers and the Okkampitiya Police are conducting operations to arrest him.